Psychological Reports

Previous studies of second language aptitude have mainly used verbal stimuli in memory tasks. Memory for musical stimuli has not been used in aptitude studies although music and language have structural similarity. In this study, 30 Japanese university students who speak English as a second language (19 men, M = 21.3 yr., SD = 1.8) participated in the experiment as volunteers. They performed verbal memory tasks, musical memory tasks, and English pronunciation tasks. Factor analysis indicated that verbal and musical memory abilities are better represented as a unitary factor rather than two independent factors. Further, a path analysis supported the hypothesis that the memory for both verbal and musical tasks affects proficiency of second language pronunciation, including prosodic features such as stress in word or intonation through a couple of sentences. The memory factor was interpreted as reflecting the performance of “auditory working memory.”

A substantial group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has difficulty coping with their disease. Cognitive behavioral group interventions may help these patients cope more effectively with MS. We developed an 8-session group intervention programme for patients recently diagnosed with MS to help them cope more effectively with MS and to overcome negative thoughts and beliefs about the disease to improve health-related quality of life. We tested the feasibility of the group intervention programme and health-related quality of life in a sample of 11 patients recently diagnosed with MS [mean age: 38 (±7.9) yr.; 8 women and 3 men]. All patients were recruited through direct referral by their neurologist or by an MS nurse specialist. The programme was conducted in two small groups of 7 patients each, and each group was led by two psychologists. Cognitive behavioral therapy was an important ingredient in each group session as well as sharing of personal experiences and discussing homework assignments. Each session was formatted the same way but addressed a different MS-specific theme, for example, ‘coping with physical impairments’ or ‘communication with medical staff’. Participants experienced a significant improvement in the health-related quality of life domains of psychological status and vitality, as measured by subscales of Disability and Impact Profile and the Short Form-36 Health Survey. Although further studies are warranted, it appears that a short group intervention programme based on cognitive behavioral techniques for patients with MS might have a positive influence on health-related quality of life.

In the 10 provinces and 2 territories of Canada in 2000, but not in 1990, the total number of types of gambling activities was positively associated with rates of robbery (p < .05). Controls for other social variables did not eliminate these associations. With so many correlations in the present study the likelihood of a Type I error was quite large. Alpha was adjusted to control that likelihood. Statistical analysis now required even stronger evidence before concluding that there were significant relationships between crime and gambling variables or among gambling variables. In the 10 provinces of Canada in 1999/2000, the total numbers of electronic gambling machines for each province was associated with rates of theft over $5000 (p < .01). In 1990 there were positive associations found for burglary with off-track betting and race/sportsbooks; motor vehicle theft with off-track betting, and race/sportsbooks; rate of theft with casinos; quarter horse racing with thoroughbred racing. In 2000 there were positive associations for robbery with casinos and slot machines; casinos with slot machines; scratch tickets with raffles, break-open tickets, sports tickets, and charitable bingo; raffles with break-open tickets, sports tickets, and charitable bingo; break-open tickets with sports tickets; charitable bingo with break-open tickets and sports tickets.

426 students rated a vignette wherein an older person was patronized (more or less) or not by a police officer. Trait attributions were linearly related to extent of patronization: predictably negative for the patronizers, yet positive for the recipients. Visual appearances of patronizers and patronizees did not influence these patterns.

The behavior of 643 pedestrians and 1749 motorists at two signal-controlled intersections was observed over a 2-mo. period of observation in March and November. One intersection had a coffin-shaped traffic sign with the wording “Fatality” erected during the first month of observation (March). The second intersection was identical in traffic and pedestrian volume but lacked a “Fatality” sign in either March or November. “Fatality” signs are erected and maintained by the City of Edmonton for 6 mo. whenever a pedestrian death has occurred, and they are intended to raise the awareness of both pedestrians and motorists concerning the risks at dangerous intersections. This sign had been removed for nearly 3 mo. when a follow-up observation was made in November. While female pedestrians and pedestrians over the age of 50 years showed greater caution at both intersections, the presence or absence of the “Fatality” sign had no statistically significant influence on safety. Similarly, the presence or absence of a sign did not significantly influence motorists' behavior. Of motorists 7.6% ran either amber or red traffic control lights at the two intersections. The “Fatality” sign did not affect the rates of these violations.

Self-reported physical activity, and perceived fitness were examined to assess their effects on social physique anxiety in a sample of older individuals (N = 249; M age = 70.4 yr., SD = 8.2). Participants reported their fitness as “average” to “above average.” There were no significant effects of perceived fitness or age on social physique anxiety scores. The women had significantly higher social physique anxiety scores than the men.

Niederhofer (1994) found that maternal stress during pregnancy was significantly associated with development of personality in early childhood. This study examined the correlation between maternal stress (self-report) during pregnancy for 22 women, its ultrasound objectification by observation of intrauterine fetal movements, child's temperament in early childhood, and child's Independence and social behavior at the age of 2 years while controlling for possible confounding variables. Only intrauterine fetal movements (head/arm/leg) were not associated with stress during pregnancy, temperament, or independence.

Vignettes were used to examine the effect of labeling a person with two stigmatized illnesses, HIV disease and serious mental illness (schizophrenia). The additive model predicted that stigma associated with combined HIV and serious mental illness would resemble the simple sum of those for the two conditions. The discounting model predicted that the presence of serious mental illness would lead subjects to view the target individual as less responsible for infection, resulting in less stigmatization than given for HIV alone. Data collected from 244 participants at a public northeastern university supported the additive model. Stigmatization was highest in the group labeled with both HIV and serious mental illness, while stigmatization associated with someone with only HIV was less than those associated with someone with only serious mental illness. Possible explanations are discussed.

This study examined the relationship between profit achievement and emotional regulation strategies, using Kelley's Negotiation Game to measure profit achievement. The game involves bargaining for the prices of three products. Emotional Regulation Strategies were measured by The Emotional Regulation Questionnaire. Scores were obtained from 104 lower level managers of a bank in Turkey. Their average age was 32.0 yr. (SD = 3.7), (39 women and 65 men). A correlation of .65 (p < .01) was obtained between scores on profit achievement with scores on Cognitive Reappraisal strategy and –.50 (p < .01) with scores on Suppression strategy.

This article continues the presentation of new data regarding the frequencies of English letters organized by word length and letter position. Digraphs (defined here as all two-letter combinations) were the objects of study. The frequencies of digraphs were derived from a sample of 320,780 English words (including 6505 different words), which were credibly demonstrated by Whissell to be a parsimonious representation of modern English word usage. A total of 997,380 digraphs were counted and sorted by locations according to word length and digraph positions within words. As assessed by the Whissell source, the data about digraphs presented accurately represent the frequencies with which digraphs occur in modern English. How these data can provide a resource for reading research and practice is explored.

Relations were examined between configurations of Big Five Traits (Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience) and 16 fundamental motives (Social Contact, Curiosity, Honor, Power, Order, Idealism, Independence, Status, Vengeance, Romance, Family, Activity, Saving, Acceptance, Eating, Tranquility) in 138 university students (93 women, 45 men; M age = 20.3 yr., SD = 4.5). Big Five traits were measured with the NEO-PI–R and motives were measured with the Reiss Profile of Fundamental Goals and Motivation Sensitivities. The traits were significantly related with all the motives (adjusted R² = .06 to .43) except Physical Activity. Four motives were related with only one trait and nine configurations of two or more traits were correlated with the remaining 11 motives. Total motive scores across all participants, an index of the strength of overall motivation, were positively correlated with Extraversion and Neuroticism and negatively with Agreeableness.

154 undergraduates role-played a restaurant server experiencing positive, neutral, or negative Job or Life Satisfaction. Positive Satisfaction resulted in ratings of more positive reported mood state, lower expected absenteeism and turnover intentions, and greater expected Organizational Citizenship Behavior than did Neutral Satisfaction and Negative Satisfaction. Life Satisfaction was associated with reported mood states and intentions similarly to Job Satisfaction, except Negative Job Satisfaction was more negatively influential on expectations of quitting than Negative Life Satisfaction. Both Job and Life Satisfaction may be antecedents to affect and its consequences in work settings.

111 schizophrenic patients diagnosed in accordance with DSM–III were rated on Landmark's symptom checklist, on demographic variables, and on variables descriptive of the course of illness. Of the 111 patients, 108 (97.3%) showed poor insight into their illness at some time in the past and 65 (58.6%) at the time of assessment. Those presently showing poor insight were significantly (Pearson rs, p < .01, 2-tailed) more frequently rated as currently displaying poor judgement also in other matters (r = .50), as showing social withdrawal (r = .42) and poor rapport (r = .33), and as being preoccupied with their delusions or hallucinations (r = .31) and as being unreliable informants (r = .41). They usually had lower education (r = .33), their income in the last taxation year was lower (r = .47), and their work functioning was less adequate (r = .30).

Freud (1909/1955) hypothesized a conflict between love and hate in obsessive neurosis. To test this relationship, we compared a Thematic Apperception Test-based measure of aggressive fantasies in college men who scored either high or low on the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory–Revised. 64 undergraduate men from beginning classes in psychology participated. Their mean age was 19.4 yr. (SD = 1.7). 16 men with high scores had significantly higher scores on a TAT-based measure of aggressive fantasies toward parents, partners, and others than 15 men with low scores, which is consistent with Freud's hypothesis.

It was hypothesized that one of the reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq was to stop the payments being made by Saddam Hussein to the families of suicide (homicide) bombers in Israel. The consequences of suicide (homicide) bombing attacks against Israel between March 2001 and August 2004 were evaluated as related to the time of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. On average per month during this period, there were fewer overall casualties after the invasion than before it. As many as nearly 1,100 casualties may have been prevented in Israel as a consequence of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, suggesting that at least one possible goal of the U.S. invasion may have been achieved, at least as averaged over the first 17 months after the invasion.

This commentary focuses on three points of the Akama and Yamauchi paper (2004) that raise possibilities for research. These points regard (a) the nature of metacognitive experiences, (b) their relations with performance, and (c) their role in self-regulation.

474 faculty in 56 professional clinical psychology programs were compared with 972 faculty from 157 traditional clinical psychology programs. The faculty in the professional programs were more likely to be licensed (93% to 85%) and to be diplomates of the American Board of Professional Psychology (15% to 11%, respectively). The faculty in traditional programs averaged more publications (35 vs 17) and citations, and they were more likely to be fellows of the American Psychological Association (26% to 11%). These differences appear congruent with the different missions and objectives of the two types of programs. There were no differences in the number of years since the doctorate, used as a measure of professional experience.

The Irrational Beliefs Inventory gives a measure of irrational beliefs, as postulated by Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior therapy. Given the increasing cross-cultural use of psychometric scales, it is important to assess whether the psychometric properties of the inventory are consistent across cultures. In the present study cross-cultural applicability, in terms of internal consistency and independence of subscales, was investigated for an ad hoc sample of White (n = 100, M age = 21.3 yr., SD = 4.0) and Black (n = 82, M age = 19.8 yr., SD = 2.2) undergraduate South African university students. Cronbach coefficients alpha for the subscales and Pearson correlations between subscales for American and Dutch students, as reported by Bridges and Sanderman, were compared with those indices for the South African students. The magnitude and rank order of Cronbach α, as well as the correlations between subscales for the three groups showed strong similarities. Values of alpha for the Black South African students were lower in magnitude on all subscales than those for American, Dutch, and White South African samples, but intercorrelations between subscale scores were consistent. Findings in the present study are supportive of the cross-cultural applicability of the Irrational Beliefs Inventory to White South African students but not to South African Black students.

In England and Wales from 1980 to 1987, the increasing homicide rate did not appear to be associated with an increase in the proportion of 15- to 24-yr.-olds.

This study examined the relations between family structure and students' health-related behaviors. Participants were 6,130 Greek students, ages 11 to 16 years. They responded to questionnaires based on the Planned Behavior model assessing attitudes, perceived behavioral control, intentions and behavior regarding healthy and unhealthy habits. Students who reported growing up with one or no parent reported more unhealthy lifestyle attitudes and behaviors (smoking, drug use, violence, exercise, nutrition) than students growing up with both parents. The findings suggest that family structure is related to students' healthy or unhealthy lifestyle, indicating that in health education programs all members of the close environment within which the children live should be involved, especially for children who do not live with both parents.

The comparison of the ethnic composition of an intermediate care facility with several Hispanic residents and the general population was hindered by the absence of categorization of ethnicity according to the United States Census. If all Hispanic residents of the facility were white, then 55% of the facility population were white, a proportion comparable to the 58.2% white population of the general population. On the other hand, if all the Hispanic residents were not white, then 27.5% of the facility residents were white. In that case, the proportion of white residents of the facility is much less than in the general population. Therefore, a Demographic Coding Form was developed to capture the essential data to make direct comparisons and contrasts with the general population recorded by the United States Census. Since the United States Census records Hispanic ethnic minority status as a separate category independent from all other ethnic groups, the design of experiments to investigate the possible effects of ethnicity on populations wisely incorporates the administration of a Demographic Coding Form to capture the key ethnic data to permit direct comparison with the general population.

A study of 137 undergraduate students yielded no sex differences in attitudes toward computers or the Internet.

Gleaves and Hernandez have argued that skepticism about the validity of Freud's seduction theory, including by Powell and Boer, is largely unjustified. This paper contends that their analysis is in many ways both inaccurate and misleading. For example, we did not, as they implied, reject the possibility that some of Freud's early patients were victims of childhood sexual abuse. We also maintain that the weight of the available evidence indicates that false memories of traumatic events probably can be implanted, and that Freud's (1896/1962a) original evidence for the validity of his patients' recovered memories remains lacking in several respects—particularly in view of the extremely suggestive procedures he often used to elicit such memories.

Predictors of purchasing textbooks and other types of books by college and university students were found to be different.

Ye and Barbuto in 2004 made a number of interesting observations about use in 2002 by Van Breukelen, Konst, and Van der Vlist of the term ‘neutralizer’. They advised caution when employing the term ‘neutralizer’, preferring instead the designation ‘moderator’. Their comments underscore the importance of discussion on the nature of interaction effects in studies of leadership. Here we clarify our procedures in more detail and present the results of further analyses of our data.

Analysing the relation between Job Satisfaction and Autonomy in a sample of 300 Greek teachers (114 men and 186 women, 28 to 59 years old) from primary and secondary schools, showed statistically significant positive correlations between Job Satisfaction and Autonomy. Particularly, Autonomy was correlated with Job Itself (.21), Supervision (.22), and the Organizational as a Whole (.27), aspects of Job Satisfaction. Findings are in line with previous studies conducted in different cultural contexts. Percent common variance accounted for is small.

Phenomenology and perceptual psychology opens up the essential meanings of hypnosis by presenting a qualitative method as an alternative to the current predominant quantitative method in the study of hypnosis. Scales that measure susceptibility from behavioral and cognitive aspects abound in the hypnosis literature, but understanding the structure of hypnotic experiencing is yet to come. A new qualitative approach to researching hypnotic experiencing by combining aspects of phenomenological research as in work of Giorgi, Moustakas, and Wertz, familiarity with Husserl's philosophy, and a perceptual psychological research method (cf. work by Combs, Richards, & Richards and by Wasicsko). The author utilized this combined methodology to formulate the theory of Perceptually Oriented Hypnosis. This methodology enables the therapist or professional and patient or client to share benefits from the effects of their hypnotic experiencing in its intersubjective sense. This method can be applied in numerous life situations such as teaching and therapy in addition to the experimental situation.

Analysis of 1989–1998 age-adjusted death rates from personal violence in California did not show significantly different suicide and homicide rates in rural counties. No urban vs rural differences in rates of personal violence were noted; however, numerically there were more rural than urban suicides and homicides.

When a past event is remembered, the subjective elapsed time is often different from the objective elapsed time, even if the exact date of an event is known. In this study, Feeling of Time Discrepancy between objective elapsed time and subjective elapsed time of turning point events was examined. Participants remembered one turning point event in life, dated the event, and estimated the Feeling of Time Discrepancy. Two groups, formed on their judgement of whether their present understanding of the event is the same or different from understanding when the event occurred (the Same assessment group and the Different assessment group). Analysis showed the Different assessment group felt the turning point event to be more recent than the Same assessment group did, although there was no difference between actual elapsed time and memory vividness for the two groups. In addition, the events which changed from negative to positive were felt subjectively to be more recent than those for which affect was consistently positive. These results suggest that, even if we experience negative events, the event might become a part of the present self and be felt temporally closer to now, when temporal organization of autobiographical memories allow recognition of the event as good experience. Finally, two types of temporal organization of such memory were discussed, the subjective temporal organization of autobiographical memory which is organized only for oneself and the social objective temporal organization of autobiographical memory which becomes organized in sharing it with another person.

Internal consistency reliabilities for WAIS–III IQ, Index, and subtest discrepancy scores are provided for 100 men in a treatment program for substance abuse disorders. There were 63 Euro-Americans and 37 African Americans. Means for age, education, and Full Scale IQ were 46.1 yr. (SD = 8.8), 12.7 yr. (SD = 1.5), and 93.8 (SD = 14.0), respectively. Reliabilities ranged from .34 to .86. Compared with the WAIS–III standardization sample, discrepancy score reliability coefficients differed only for the Verbal Comprehension Index vs Perceptual Organization Index contrast, which was higher in the patient sample. Interpretation of discrepancy scores for the WAIS–III appears to be useful in a clinical sample with substance abuse as in a purportedly normal sample.

Correlations among suicide rate, unemployment rate, and enterprise failure were examined from 1976 to 1994 by using a Loess smoothing method. Significant positive correlations were found between suicide rate in men and unemployment and between suicide rate in both sexes and enterprise failure (p < .001).

Tests of self-control theory have examined a substantial number of criminal behaviors, but no study has examined the correlation of low self-control with software piracy. Using data collected from 302 students in this university, this study examined the correlation of low self-control with software piracy and the moderating role of associating with deviant peers in this correlation. Low self-control correlated with software piracy more strongly for those who had high associations with deviant peers than for students with low associations with deviant peers. Analysis indicated differential links for lack of moral attitude in relation to software piracy and favorable attitudes for software piracy for varying association with deviant peers.

Correlations among depression, optimism, and positive health practices were studied in young adolescents. A sample of 131 boys and girls, aged 12 to 14 (M = 13.2, SD = .8) completed the Revised Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression Scale, and the Life Orientation Test. A negative correlation (–.47) was found between scores on Depression and Positive Health Practices, and the correlation for scores on Optimism and Positive Health Practices was .52.

Part 1 presents the results of a meta-analytic study on the effects of aging on intelligence. Analysis of a total of 20 longitudinal samples shows that most of the intelligence scores rose before the age of 50 and fell at a progressively increasing rate after the age of 50. An equation describing this rise and fall in intelligence was derived. Part 2 shows the relationship between the predicted prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (from the equation derived in Part 1) and the prevalence of the disease obtained from 10 studies. The predictive curve fit so well with the observed prevalence data that the results can be interpreted as evidence that Alzheimer's is a manifestation of aging.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of therapeutic paradox within the contextual-behavioral treatment called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Emphasis is on the difference between inherent and constructed paradox, expanding on previous work and emphasizing Acceptance and Commitment Therapy's relationship to Logotherapy.

A recent trend in the study of reading difficulties promotes multidimensional intervention, focusing on the reciprocal influences exerted by cognitive and emotional-motivational variables. This study evaluated improvements in reading performance as a function of metacognitive training in 36 children (M age = 8.7 yr.) with different representations of intelligence. Posttest evaluations show significantly more improvement in reading comprehension in children with an incremental theory of intelligence. These results indicate the importance of treatment programmes that take into account both the specificity of deficits and factors relating to the domain of motivation.

Relationships between cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms were analysed in a representative random sample of 1447 secondary-school children aged 11 to 16 years in Galicia (NW Spain). The sample comprised 797 boys (55.1%) and 650 girls (44.9%). Their mean age was 12.8 yr. (SD = 1.2). Depressive symptoms, evaluated with the Children's Depression Inventory, were reported by 11.0% of children who responded they had never smoked, versus 23.7% of those who said they sometimes smoked, and 44.2% of those who identified themselves as current daily smokers. These results indicate an association between smoking and depression among children in this age group.

The present study assessed the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measure of parents' assessments of their children's abilities, including problem-solving skills, social skills, dexterity, creativity, and learning motivation. A nationwide sample of Finnish parents (N = 432), representing two educational groups, both mothers (64%) and fathers (36%) whose mean age was 37.8 yr. (SD = 5.3), were asked to assess their children's abilities during preschool and at the end of the first and the third school year. A set of analyses of this longitudinal data indicated that the scales had adequate internal and temporal consistency, the factor structure showed invariability across time, and the scales related meaningfully to the parents' perceptions of their children's competencies in different school subjects.

A nonsignificant tendency was found for 48 females in Iran to make more serious suicide attempts using opium than did 152 males.

An experiment was conducted to examine whether attitudes toward extrarelational sex, i.e., “swinging,” differed as a function of participant's gender and gender of the third party, i.e., the “swinging” partner. Participants were asked to imagine that their current romantic partner had expressed an interest in “swinging” with another individual (male or female, randomly assigned). Analysis yielded several significant differences by participants' gender. Specifically, men expressed greater interest than did women in joining a swinger's club, reported a higher likelihood than did women of actually joining such a club, and believed more than women that their sex life with their partner would improve after joining a swinger's club. Participants also preferred a female more than a male swinging partner, although this comparison was not statistically significant.

A pilot study explored the relationships between learning styles and motivation for a sample of 103 undergraduate and graduate students who completed both the Approaches to Studying Inventory and the Motivation Sources Inventory online. A significant positive but small correlation was found between scores on Surface Apathetic Approach and on Self-concept Internal motivation (r = .32, p < .01). Significant negative correlations were found between scores on Surface Apathetic Approach and on Self-concept External motivation (r = –.32, p < .01), and for Strategic Approach and Self-concept Internal (r = –.37, p < .01). Implications and further research are discussed.

The aim of this study was to test the assumption that nonconscious goal pursuit guides behavior more efficiently and produces better performance, only when the conscious monitoring of the task is low. Some studies have documented that goals can be activated and guide behaviors outside of awareness. 66 students, 22 men and 44 women with a mean age of 18.3 yr. (SD = 0.9) years, were randomly assigned to Achievement Goal Priming or Neutral Priming conditions. In the Achievement Goal Priming condition, concepts associated with high performance were activated outside of their awareness via a scrambled sentence task. All participants were then given a calculation task to complete. To manipulate conscious monitoring, half of the participants were presented the task as a fun filler task, and the rest were presented the task as a measure of ability and were encouraged to monitor their performance on the task consciously. Analysis showed, among participants who were presented the task as a fun filler task, the Achievement Goal Priming group completed more tasks relative to the Neutral Priming group. Those who were encouraged to monitor their performance consciously did not benefit from Achievement Goal priming. The results implied that consciously monitored behavior might be counterproductive.

The Study Orientation Questionnaire in Mathematics Tertiary is being developed as a diagnostic measure for South African lecturers and counselors to help students improve their orientation toward the study of mathematics. In this pilot study subjects were freshman black students registered for the Five-year Study Programme in the School of Engineering at the University of Pretoria. During the first phase of the standardisation in 2000, 33 students (28 men; 5 women, M age =19.6, SD = .9) were assessed, and in 2001, 40 students (27 men, 13 women, M age = 19.2, SD = .9). In 2002 the questionnaire was administered to 51 students (39 men, 12 women, M age =19.1, SD = .9). Analysis showed satisfactory reliability coefficients and item-field correlations. Step-wise linear regression in 2001 indicated that a combination of two fields, namely, Information Processing and Problem-solving Behaviour in mathematics, contributed significantly (R² = 46.9%) to predicting achievement in calculus. In 2002 one field, Mathematics Confidence, contributed significantly (R² = 25.2%) to that prediction.

In three samples of subjects (ns = 67, 115, 77) introversion and neuroticism scores on one of Eysenck's tests were positively associated.

The purpose was to investigate possible correlates [perception of parental marital satisfaction (Relationship Assessment Scale), marital status of parents, participation in marital enrichment, current stress, and sex] of marital satisfaction (Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale) and relational attachment (Revised Adult Attachment Scale). 71 young couples (M age = 25.3 yr., SD = 3.2) in their first ten years of marriage completed the measures. Backward regression analysis indicated that marital status of parents, participation in marital enrichment, current stress, and sex accounted for a significant portion of the variance for the Anxiety subscale of the Revised Adult Attachment Scale. None of the models significantly accounted for the variance on the measure of marital satisfaction.

British university students (n = 142) obtained a higher mean external locus of control score than did American university students (n = 185) overall and, in particular, on items related to politicians and government.

This study investigated the factor structure of the 12-item Faith Maturity Scale and the association of Protestant Faith Maturity and Doctrinal Orthodoxy. The sample was taken from 207 urban evangelical church members in southern California. Analysis indicated the Faith Maturity Scale incorporates two factors and Faith Maturity has a weak, positive association with Doctrinal Orthodoxy as tapped by the Christian Doctrinal Orthodoxy Scale. Protestant faith maturity seems to be more independent of doctrinal orthodoxy than generally thought.

To examine the relationship of religion and perceived stress, 97 undergraduate college students responded to the Perceived Stress Scale, the Spiritual Well-being Scale, and the Intrinsic/Extrinsic–Revised scale during a period of extreme national stressors during Fall 2001, namely, the September 11th terrorist attacks, anthrax scare, and war in Afghanistan, in addition to the local stressor of pending final college examinations. Scores on the Perceived Stress Scale were negatively correlated to scores on Existential Well-being (–.66), Religious Well-being (–.43), and Intrinsic Religious Orientation (–.44). Age was unrelated to all variables. Both the quality (well-being) of students' religious experience and the orientation of that experience were related to their perception of stress.

A sample of 895 adults completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression scale and a test of intrinsic religious motivation. The correlation of –.06 between scores on the two scales was not significant.

The validity of the Lie/Bet Screen was tested on two community population samples, one adult (n = 2,014) and one adolescent sample (n = 3,237), in Norway. With positive responses on at least one of the questions on Lie/Bet Screen used as the cutoff point the screen showed high both sensitivity and specificity. The negative predictive value was also high, but the positive predictive value was comparatively lower. A prediction of probable pathological gambling or “At-risk gambling” based on both Lie/Bet questions identified a valid screening in the two samples (0.54% in adults, 5.6% in adolescents). Compared to the use of the full DSM–IV this is pretty close, with the figures 0.45% and 5.22%. It is concluded that the Lie/Bet Screen may function as a good screening device for pathological gambling plus At-risk gambling in normal community samples.

Using data from 23 nations, scores on a measure of Extraversion by nation were positively associated with more Internet use per capita.

To apply the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale to Korean couples, one item about the parenting role was added to the original scale. Using survey data from 350 married couples from the urban area of Seoul, Korea, this study investigated the availability of the original and revised forms in Korea. Values of internal consistency of responding, means, standard deviations and Pearson rs for both scales were remarkably consistent in the Korean sample and were good assessments of key dimensions of the marital process of Korean couples with children.

Single-item ratings of the quality of instructors or subjects are widely used by higher education institutions, yet such ratings are commonly assumed to have inadequate psychometric properties. Recent research has demonstrated that reliability of such ratings can indeed be estimated, using either the correction for attenuation formula or factor analytic methods. This study replicates prior research on the reliability of single-item ratings of quality of instruction, using a different, more student-fo-cussed approach to teaching and learning evaluation than used by previous researchers. Class average data from 1,097 classes, representing responses from 59,815 students, were analysed. At the “class” level of analysis, both methods of estimation suggested the single item of quality had high reliability: .96 using the correction for attenuation formula, and .94 using the factor analytic method. An alternative method of calculating reliability, which takes into account the hierarchical nature of the data, likewise suggested high estimated reliability (.92) of the single-item rating. These results indicate the suitability of the overall class rating for quality improvement in higher education, with a large sample.

A validation study of the Larocque Obesity Questionnaire designed for use in obesity treatment was performed. Unlike other measures of obesity, this questionnaire includes scales measuring general emotional state as well as eating behavior. Subscales measured uncontrolled eating, physical stress responses, depression, and perfectionism. Subjects were 458 women and 79 men in treatment for obesity by general practitioners. The subscales showed acceptable internal consistency and related in predictable ways to measures of eating behavior, depression, self-criticism, stress, physical complaints and weight-control motivation. Subjects in the heaviest weight category (Body Mass Index ≥ 40) showed higher scores on Stress Response and Depression subscales. There were no significant sex differences, after controlling for weight. All four subscales showed significant improvement after 5 wk., which indicates their sensitivity to changes during treatment.

In this research a coefficient of variation (CV_high-low) is calculated from the highest and lowest values in a set of data. Use of CV_high-low when the population is normal, leptokurtic, and skewed is discussed. The statistic is the most effective when sampling from the normal distribution. With the leptokurtic distributions, CV_high-low works well for comparing the relative variability between two or more distributions but does not provide a very “good” point estimate of the population coefficient of variation. With skewed distributions CV_high-low works well in identifying which data set has the more relative variation but does not specify how much difference there is in the variation. It also does not provide a “good” point estimate.

Dousa-hou is a Japanese psychological rehabilitation method which is widely used in Japan for children with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and autism. The primary focus of the rehabilitation method is to improve bodily movements and posture as well as to introduce social support to patients and their first-degree relatives. Analysis showed mothers got more social support interacting with their child's trainer and supervisor during Dousa-hou. Trainers were more interactive than mothers in the Indian group, followed by the Japanese and Korean cultural groups.

A sample of 440 undergraduate university students completed the Templer Death Anxiety Scale 2 wk. prior to and 2 wk. after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Women comprised 66% of the sample, and 79% of the sample identified themselves as 18 to 21 years of age and either freshmen or sophomores. There was no significant mean difference in the pre- and postterrorist attack Death Anxiety scores. Differences were found on two individual scale items.